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SINGAPORE - Thai star Chapchai Nirat led the field at the Singapore Open Saturday, as Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington charged up the leaderboard to put themselves firmly in the hunt.
Although the rain held off Saturday, a backlog of players had to finish their second rounds, meaning only 27 were able to complete their third rounds before bad light forced them off the course.
Ireland's three-time Major winner Harrington was the clubhouse leader on five-under-par 208 after a sparkling 66.
But Chapchai was the danger man on nine-under after 12 holes, two clear of a trio of players on seven under, including local hope Lam Chih Bing (after 11), Denmark's Thomas Bjorn (12), and England's Simon Dyson (11).
Joint overnight leader Ernie Els struggled to stay in touch and was one over for the day, four behind Chapchai, after 11 holes, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (after 11), India's Jeev Milka Singh (14) and Mickelson (14) joined Harrington on five under.
Chapchai, who broke through in 2007 with back-to-back victories at the European Tour-sanctioned TCL Classic and the Hana Bank Masters in Vietnam, sunk an eagle on the 10th to take the outright lead.
"I had a game plan coming into this tournament and I will stick with that," said the 25-year-old, who trained to be a monk and credits meditation with helping him relax on the golf course.
"It will be more of the same on Sunday."
World number three Mickelson played 29 holes on Saturday. He hit five birdies to wrap up his second round before a bogey at the last, sparked by a poor tee shot after a camera clicked as he was driving, something that infuriated the American.
"That's by far the angriest I've seen him in 16 years," his caddy Jim Mackay said behind the 18th green.
Mickelson composed himself before launching into his third round, where he scored an eagle and two birdies to position himself for a crack at the title.
"I'm still very much in contention but I need to keep making birdies on Sunday" he said. "I played well today though."
Singaporean hopes of an upset victory rest with Lam, who is not known as a strong finisher, managing just two top 10s in 105 starts on the Asian Tour.
But he is confident and will go out on Sunday faced with a 15 foot putt for par on the 12th, unable to take the shot as darkness settled over the Serapong course.
"It's been a long day but all in all a steady round," he said, before rushing off for his grandmother's birthday dinner.
"I'm on a great run. The support from the crowd is awesome. I am looking to do the same on Sunday."
Two-time champion Adam Scott was a high-profile casualty, missing the cut as he completed his rain-hit second round. Asia's top player K.J Choi joined the him in failing to make the grade.
"I played miserably. I just did not know where the ball was going and that of course put a lot of pressure on my putting," said Scott, the winner in 2005 and 2006 and third last year behind Angel Cabrera and Vijay Singh.
The 28-year-old's game never got going and he ended his second round Saturday at seven-over for the tournament, missing the cut by three shots.
"It's a been a very disappointing two days," he said.
- AFP/ir
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